About the Laboratory

Goals of the Laboratory:

• Integration of different approaches to goal setting and motivation developed within the American, European, and Russian psychological traditions.
• Development of theoretical models of relationship between goals and personality, as well as of interventions aimed to reach their optimal balance in various activities.
• Development and cross-cultural validation of new and existing methods for measurement of goal characteristics, engagement, reflection and subjectivity.
• Participation in international projects and initiation of new ones aimed at studying the contribution of socio-cultural factors to personality and motivation development.

The research projects of the laboratory address engagement, meaning, motivational regulation, concordance of goals, and other constructs using instruments developed by the laboratory members as well as validated Russian versions of established measures.

The research methodology is based on Self-Determination Theory (E. Deci, R. Ryan), Flow Theory (M. Csikszentmihalyi), activity approach to meaning developed in the context of cultural-historical activity theory (L. Vygotsky, A. Leontiev, A. Asmolov, D. Leontiev).

Main directions of the Laboratory research projects:

• Goals and motivation
• Self-regulation and personal choice
• Psychological well-being and life meaning
• Positive psychology of organizations, job satisfaction
• Applied positive psychology